A routine ENT procedure, such as adenoidectomy, is performed under indirect, mirror-aided visualization. As a result, the surgical field, in most cases, is limited and not magnified. This prevents proper visualization of the surgical field and technique by a surgeon, operating room nursing staff, technicians, students and residents. In addition, the handheld mirror occupies a surgeon's non-operating hand, compromising the precision of a surgeon's work.
Currently, during routine ENT procedures, many different types/sizes of mouth gags are employed. The conventional mouth gag, such as the most commonly used Crowe-Davis and Mclvor mouth gags, includes a mouth gag frame and an attachable tongue depressor, whereas the tongue depressor further comprises a tongue-covering blade and handle piece to attach to the mouth gag frame. Moreover, according to certain tongue depressor design, an accommodation for intubation has been made. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a Crowe-Davis tongue depressor that comprises a rigid groove/indentation on the back portion of the tongue-covering blade for the passage of an intubation tube between the depressor and the tongue. However, no accommodation is made on any conventional tongue depressor for secure placement of an optic device, such as a fiber optic rigid or flexible scope. Rather, during contemporary upper airway procedures (such as the nasopharynx procedures), a handheld mirror is used by a surgeon, providing poor imaging quality and limited surgical field viewing.
Endoscopic technology has been increasingly sophisticated to provide high-definition visual monitoring during all sorts of surgical procedures. Several attempts to combine the endoscopic technology and the existing ENT devices, such as a mouth gag, have been developed and studied; however, most of them are rather cumbersome, and/or focused on developing the direct-line-of-sight from a surgeon's eye to the larynx of a patient, not suitable for adenoidectomy procedures, in which the adenoids are tucked away in the nasopharynx, located in the opposite direction, e.g., one hundred and eighty degrees (180°), from the larynx.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.